Chapter 277

Chapter 278. The Way to Protect What’s Precious (2)

It was said that strength and pride are proportional.

The stronger one is, the less they avoid the battles that come their way. That confidence in one’s own power is one thing, but the desire for fame and honor is even greater.

Especially when one bears the title of a “Master,” a transcendent being, and yet runs away from a fight? In noble society, that could be a death sentence.

Even if it means death, they fight to the end. That is the pride of the strong and the honor of nobility.

But Keter felt no hesitation or shame in suggesting they run.

“If you want to follow, then follow.”

He turned his back to the enemy and immediately fled.

The Grandmasters surrounding him hesitated for a moment but soon began to chase after Keter.

They didn’t take orders from anyone. They were commanders themselves, and they believed it was right to pursue Keter based on their own judgment.

However, Keter was far too fast.

For the knights of the Lilian Kingdom, who only trained in footwork as their mobility technique, the concept of moving quickly and far was unfamiliar.

Keter hadn’t specifically trained in such techniques, but he understood the principles, allowing him to create a distance of dozens of meters in the blink of an eye.

The only one who could keep up with Keter was Sword Dragon Rajis, thanks to the principles of mobility embedded in the secret technique of the Garcia family, “Thousand Forms Without Seam.”

As they chased, Rajis began to feel that Keter wasn’t just running away.

“Keter, surely not. He wouldn’t go that far.”

But that ominous premonition became reality.

“That, that’s!”

As the main base of the Baydant family came into view, Rajis broke into a sweat. He wanted to believe that even Keter wouldn’t go that far.

Boom!

Keter smashed through the wall where Baydant’s main force was stationed. Rajis desperately hoped Keter would ignore the soldiers and just keep running.

Boom! Crash!

An enormous explosion echoed, and the sound of bells signaling the intrusion spread in all directions.

Rajis, tears of blood streaming down his face, focused all his strength into his legs and closed the distance to Keter in an instant.

Five seconds. A distance that should have taken 20 seconds was compressed.

“Ah……?”

Rajis’s jaw dropped, and his legs trembled at the horrific reality before his eyes.

Corpses were everywhere. Arms, legs, and entrails were scattered so widely that it was impossible to guess how many had died.

This was what happened when Keter used his explosive arrow technique, Milky Way, in war. Hundreds, thousands, were killed as if it were nothing.

“Ugh.”

Rajis, leaning on his sword like a cane, vomited. Even though he had fought and seen countless corpses as a knight, this level of carnage… was a first.

Moreover, the fact that the one who had done this was Keter, who was much younger than him, was hard to believe.

Keter, drinking from a canteen he had taken from a soldier, watched Rajis vomit and said,

“That look in your eyes, it’s like you see me as a villain.”

“…With that kind of power, Keter! How can you slaughter those who can’t even resist?”

“Whoever hears this might think I slaughtered innocent children and the elderly. The ones I killed were soldiers. Soldiers exist to kill and be killed. So they died, and I killed them.”

“This is cowardly. Your opponent is us!”

“Is it just for you to gang up on one person, but evil for me to reduce Baydant’s forces to lessen Sephira’s burden?”

“That…….”

Rajis couldn’t refute that. So he was frustrated.

“How can you be so confident after killing so many people?”

Whoosh!

Keter threw the canteen at Rajis and stretched.

“That lukewarm mindset is why you can’t kill and end up dead. War is about who’s stronger. Who’s smarter. That’s all it is. Everything else is just impurities.”

“That’s what beasts do.”

“Worse than beasts. Beasts only fight for survival. I’m the same. I fight for survival. That’s why I fight. What about you? Last time I saw you, you seemed to be playing the role of a champion of justice. Am I the villain, and are you executing justice? At least make that clear.”

Keter extended his palm, giving Rajis time to answer.

But Rajis couldn’t answer. It wasn’t silence as a form of response, but silence because he didn’t know what to say.

Keter sighed deeply and shook his head.

“Just as fish live by going with the flow, people live by adapting to the flow created by society. That’s not bad or wrong. It’s just that such people can never kill me.”

As they spoke, the two Grandmasters who had fallen behind caught up. They too trembled at the sight of the carnage but soon channeled their complex emotions into rage and launched a fierce attack on Keter.

“An empty cart rattles the loudest.”

Keter dodged and blocked their attacks much more easily than before.

Seeing this, Tesla stepped back and muttered,

“Not only has he recovered his stamina in such a short time, but he’s even faster now… What kind of monster is he?”

“We need to finish him before he recovers further. I’ll create an opening.”

The White Panther Knight Order’s leader, Zion, spoke gravely, but Rajis stopped them.

“Both of you, calm down. You’re not in your right state. Keter hasn’t gotten faster. We’ve slowed down. It’s just easier to dodge because our sword and spear tips are shaking.”

“What?!”

“Sir Rajis. Whose side are you on?”

True to their pride as Grandmasters, the two immediately got angry at the suggestion that they had weakened. But Rajis stood firm.

“You need to calm down. Keter was originally trying to run away. But he didn’t, and he’s not even attacking us now. This means he intends to kill us here.”

“……!”

Six Grandmasters had gathered to attack one person. He was only eighteen years old. And he had trained in archery, something everyone looked down on.

At first, it seemed like they had the upper hand. Keter had admitted his disadvantage and run away. That was clearly what had just happened.

But by the time they came to their senses, the situation had reversed. The beasts they thought they were hunting had fallen into a trap set by Keter, the hunter.

Unlike Keter, they couldn’t run away. Not because they lacked the ability, but because of their pride, honor, and the countless people watching.

Keter had killed hundreds, but there were still thousands in this base. As Baydant’s main force, there were not only soldiers but also workers and servants.

“If we retreat, Keter won’t chase us. He’ll kill everyone here.”

Rajis found the answer Keter wanted in his own words and felt a contradiction.

Justice is ultimately about protecting the weak from the strong.

But if that’s truly justice, why aren’t I protecting Sephira from Baydant?

‘Can I really call it justice if I only enforce the justice I want?’

Rajis had always excused himself by saying he couldn’t always protect the weak, that reality was like that.

But somehow.

Even if it’s unlikely, if Keter were to enforce justice, it seemed like he wouldn’t care about the most realistic problems at all.

“Sir Keter. My justice is shallow. I admit it. But still, I will fight you. If I don’t, you’ll kill even more people.”

“Death has no value. It’s just a name. If I had killed your parents, could we have had this conversation? Even if hundreds, thousands, or tens of thousands of strangers die, it’s still just someone else’s business.”

Whoosh!

As if the verbal conversation was over, Rajis’s sword slashed at Keter’s shoulder. Keter dodged it by a hair’s breadth and smiled.

‘This is a real Grandmaster. He’s worth about 0.5 Hyperion.’

Keter didn’t think he was fighting six Grandmasters. The other five, aside from Rajis, were just Grandmasters in name.

‘Just because a carriage is big, does that mean it’s good? How smoothly it runs and how comfortable it is also matter.’

Those who had only grown their Aura to enter the realm of Grandmasters were no match for Keter. It wasn’t just because Keter had the power of Ain.

The perfection of technique. Mindset. Combat experience. These three things were all lacking in Keter’s eyes. Even though he lost points for mindset, Rajis was still at a level worthy of being called a Grandmaster.

“A life where you find joy in your work is a successful life, right? Hahaha!”

As if expressing joy, hundreds of Aura Arrows bloomed around Keter like flowers.

* * *

Crash!

While playing with my brother, I accidentally broke a porcelain vase. It was a precious vase my father cherished, so I wet myself in fear.

The head of the Baydant family, my father, was strict. Even the slightest mistake would earn you a whipping. He always said, “I don’t like to hit you, but you made a mistake, so you owe me two apologies.”

Before we could do anything, my father entered the room upon hearing the sound of the broken vase. He frowned at the shattered pieces and asked,

“Who did this?”

I couldn’t answer. Even though my brother couldn’t catch the ball I threw, it was ultimately me who threw it.

While I hesitated, my brother raised his hand and said,

“It was me.”

That day, my brother took the whipping in my place. That’s what I remember most.

After that, my brother had little time to spend with me as he took lessons to become the family head. I also became busy learning the Baydant family’s secret spear technique, Moonlight Spear Technique.

But occasionally, my brother would send me gifts. Precious ointments for wounds, exotic foods from foreign lands….

Even though we rarely saw each other, I always felt grateful for his care.

But now, that brother is dead.

I couldn’t believe it. I didn’t believe it when my father died either. I didn’t even believe the rumors that my brother was the culprit. And now, this news was even harder to believe.

“Keter killed him.”

When Nether, my brother’s close aide, said that, I thought it couldn’t be true.

Keter doesn’t kill people easily. He toys with them. And above all, my brother wasn’t someone who would die easily.

Even though he had recently fallen out of favor with the family, people still believed in him because he was that capable. But now, he’s dead. By Keter’s hand.

I wanted to ask, Nether, did you kill him?

But I held back. Even if Nether was the real culprit, what would change? Nothing would change, and the situation would only get worse.

The justification that Sephira’s Keter killed the Baydant family’s branch lord. Nether had to use that, and I understood that.

At least to ensure my brother’s death wasn’t in vain, I took the position of family head. Then I prepared for the family war with Sephira. Not for my brother’s revenge, but because it was something the Baydant family had long desired. It was something we had prepared for.

To become a prestigious family in place of Sephira.

It was my father’s dream, and our family’s dream.

‘But why does Baydant have to become a prestigious family?’

It was a question Keter had asked. Why do we want to become a prestigious family?

At the time, I answered that growth was natural, but now I’m confused. Baydant’s growth was what my father wanted, not what I wanted.

What I wanted was to hone the Moonlight Spear Technique and become the greatest spearman in the kingdom, and eventually the greatest on the continent. I just wanted to prove my worth through the spear.

“How did it come to this?”

Jordic opened his eyes.

The unique scent of Elixir filled the air, and he saw Arbold looking down at him. A trustworthy subordinate and younger brother who had loyally followed him since their days in the Silver Leopard Knight Order.

“How much time has passed? Where’s Keter?”

But now, I am the head of the Baydant family, responsible for leading. I need to assess the situation, analyze it, and give orders.

“Nine minutes have passed. Tesla, Zion, and Rajis are currently fighting Keter at a nearby base.”

“Have the other two Grandmasters woken up?”

“They woke up a while ago. But due to aftereffects, they can’t fight anymore.”

“Even after using Elixir, they couldn’t recover from their injuries?”

“Their injuries are fully healed… but their stamina and Aura are depleted. They need more recovery…….”

Jordic slammed his spear into the ground in anger.

“Tell the Black Panther Knight Order’s leader and the vice-leader to return to the front lines immediately. I’ll go ahead.”

Without changing his clothes or quenching his thirst, Jordic headed straight for the base where Keter was.

Jordic clearly felt it. Keter and himself. Baydant and Sephira. They had come too far. There was no way back.

“Keter, I’ll kill you.”

To Sephira, Bolos might be the scum of the earth and a villain, but to Jordic, he was a kind older brother. Even if Keter wasn’t the real culprit, the fact that he contributed to his death wouldn’t change.

He knew it wasn’t right. But this wasn’t about right or wrong.

Jordic had just fought as he was told and became the family head by following the flow, but now he clearly understood the reason he had to fight.

For his brother’s revenge.

For his father’s wish.

And for his own dream.

He had to defeat Keter and overcome Sephira. Otherwise, there would be no future for him or Baydant.

Awakened, Jordic had become even stronger than before he was injured. In the blink of an eye, he arrived at the base hundreds of meters away and found Keter, immediately preparing to thrust his spear—but there was no need.

“……!”

Keter, pierced through the abdomen by Nether’s sword, was vomiting blood.